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Did you know that most workout gear is made out of synthetic materials that sheds in the wash releasing small particles of plastic into the water system and eventually into our rivers and oceans? These are called microplastics or microfibers that have a diameter smaller than a human hair. Sadly, these are everywhere and have been found in bottled water.

This is going to be a tough post to write, but I am going to attempt to do so as I believe it will help me understand all of the views around eating meat and where I stand. It's not that I've been avoiding the topic. It's just that this is a complex topic and I have been trying to wrap my brain around it. You see, I don't have a problem eating meat. Growing up in the Philippines, I've seen animals get butchered for food. I've witnessed chickens and pigs being raised only to be killed for a special event, mostly for a fiesta celebration. When this happened, we would be eating parts of that animal for days on end.

One of the reasons why I started this blog was to keep myself accountable for all of the personal projects I was doing. My goal was to complete a monthly project related to optimal health, the environment, minimalism and so many others. So today, I want to go over the top 8 apps that have allowed me to complete a lot of projects. I hope they will help you live more optimally in the New Year. These apps allow a lot of tracking and make reaching small incremental goals more of a game. The data also encourages you to analyze which action is going well versus not. Without further ado, here are the Top 8 Apps I currently recommend. For less than $50 for the New Year, you can find

This weekend I completed my first fast ever. The experience was easier than I thought. With nothing but water and 2 cups of bone broth, I broke my fast at hour 57. Here's why I did it, how and some of my best practices.

On the heels of my 100 Things To Do In the Fall, I thought I would also do a list for the Winter and probably for the other two seasons. I've loved every minute of Fall this year. The weather was slightly milder to begin with so we were able to enjoy most of it outside. So without further ado, my list of 100 Things To Do In the Winter. Do you have anything to add to the list? Let me know in the comments below.

Ever since I read 10% Human, I've been slightly obsessing about eating good pre and probiotics food. I've noticed a significant difference in the way I feel when ingesting probiotic-rich food or taking the probiotic supplement. After a few trial and errors, I think I've finally perfected the crock-pot yogurt recipe. With this recipe, you can significantly reduce the amount of plastic you use from yogurt consumption. It's a fairly hands-off process, but does require a few hours of attention. Here's how I normally make plastic free crock-pot yogurt.

This used to be how I drank my coffee years ago. While I don't drink coffee daily, the times I would go to Dunkin Donuts and order a drink that was majority sugar was pretty often. My body and tastes buds got used to the taste. Fast forward a few years later and my husband and I are on the paleo diet for the first time during our first year doing Crossfit. Boy, was that an eye opening year for us in terms of health, diet, and nutrition. It was also the first time we started drinking coffee black. It took some getting used to, but eventually we sucked it up and started preferring our coffee black. Another year later and we then started getting introduced to this concept of "bulletproof" coffee. I, personally, didn't understand what all the fuss was about, but it helped reduced the bitterness of the coffee so we continued that route.

Don't stand between me and my snacks or you will get hurt. Just kidding!

This summer, we've had a chance to hit the beach almost every weekend. Every time I'm at the beach, I always crave salty snacks. Alas, most of these snacks come in packaging that is hard to recycle. I've succumbed to temptation a few times and bought chips, but promised myself to do better. So I've been experimenting and trying to figure out the best zero waste snacks to make to bring to the beach. Here's my list. These are also great to make for school, for camping and for a party like the Super Bowl.

In the same way that waste is due to our chronic consumption, many of life threatening diseases in today's society is also due to our chronic consumption. The problem for many of us is that we never feel hunger. When was the last time you truly felt hungry? Probably never. For many of us living in the western world, food is accessible, regardless of whether it's determined as good or bad, food products are everywhere. This abundance means that our bodies adapt to being constantly fed and full. Think about your daily commute. How many restaurants do you see? How many opportunities to you see to purchase and get food? It's endless!

I've been reading and posting a lot about microbes because I believe that it's now one of the most important thing there is about our health. We will find a good amount of research about what this kind of food does this and that, but what's come to light in the past few years is that we have been destroying an important aspect of our body, our microbiome. There's a lot of new research that's found that the use of broad spectrum antibiotics to treat anything and everything, the use of antibiotics in our food and new medical procedures is causing and leading to a new kind of illnesses and diseases. Read more about that here.

Simply, it's awareness of the present moment. Meditation is a popular way to practice being mindful, though there are some key differences with mediation and mindfulness. The point is to recognize what you are doing, where you are and who you are with. The best way to do that is to simply slow down, but of course that is always easier said than done in our always on-the-go society. I've found that being mindful is really about forgoing the default. It's turning off the auto-pilot and steering the car itself. Here are other ways you can help the mind be more mindful.

It seems that modern medicine, the rise of antibiotics use in our food and as prescribed have destroyed good microbes and bacteria causing many of us to get allergies, become obese and get sick often. More good microbes and probiotics may be the answer we need to improve our health. SXSW 2017 has a few panels scheduled on microbes and gut biomes.

No carbs, no sugar, no complaints? It's possible! (holler at Tim Ferris to introducing me to this diet)

For the month of February, I embarked on doing the ketogenic (keto) diet for 28 days. I had heard about this diet from many sources (Tim Ferris, primarily). After doing the whole30 resets a few times and doing paleo, I wanted to experiment with one more food and diet experiment. I didn't necessarily set out to lose weight, but to see how my body would react under the designated guidelines.